Add a leaf or F150 Spring Swap

[James909]

Hello everyone new member here. I have a '92 XLT and when I measured from the ground to the wheel well it seems that the rear sags about 1" lower than the front. So I would like to do an aal or F150 leaf swap to eliminate this sag and to help eliminate body roll. I also do some towing with this rig so I would like to stiffen up the back a little. Well my question is for my situation would I be better off with the aal's or the F150 spring swap, or do they both have the exact same end result? Also I searched to find out the difference between the short and long aal's but all I could find were recommendations to get the full length ones. So what is the difference between the short and long aals? Right now I was looking at the Pro Comp aal's which are the short ones but if everyone thinks that I should get the full length ones then I will get the Superlift aals if you guys think it is worth the extra money. Thanks for everyone's help, James.

 

[little x]

Both will yield the same results. If you want to go short, it's probably cheaper to just buy the AAL. If you want to go long, you should rip apart an F-150 pack and steal one of the longer leafs (that should be cheaper then buying a long AAL).
The longer ones will give a stiffer rear end then the shorter. But both will be stiffer then stock.
FYI I'm using a short aal right now.

 

[FROADER]

A quick fun fact.:

If the body of the explorer is parallel with the ground, the front wheel well is about 1" - 1.5" higher than the rear wheel well.

EDIT: I just did this in photoshop. The truck is completely level, and the red line is at the top of the rear wheel well. Notice the front is higher...

 

[James909]

Ok, thanks guys I didn't realize that the rear fender would be closer to the ground than the front one. That makes sense though because my truck doesn't look like it is sagging, I only thought it was because of the measurements. I am assuming that if the rear was sagging it would be noticeable which it is not. Well I was going to do the aal to level the truck but now I think I will do the Pro Comp aal's for the back and a torsion twist for the front. This way the truck will handle the weight of trailers a little better and will also lift the truck a little. Now another question I have is if I do these mods will the truck look weird with stock size BF Goodrich Long Trail tires on it? I would love to get bigger tires but that's not an option because these tires are new and also because I have 3.27 gears in it and I don't want to regear it. BTW I am already addicted to this site. Before I saw the site I was content with my stock truck but now that I've found the site I've already added a bug deflector, tranny temp gauge, KKM intake and now this. This site is going to make me broke! James

 

[FROADER]

It' won't look too bad. It would look better with bigger tires obviously, but you'll be fine. Just remember to get an alignment after you do the torsion twist.

 

[James909]

In your opinion do you think the truck would look better with the 1.5" lift and stock tires or stock ride height and stock tires. If the truck will look better just left at stock height than I can always just add helper springs in the back to help with the trailer without adding height. It's dark here right now but I think what I will do when I get a chance is use a jack to raise the truck 1.5" without lifting the tires off the ground just to see how the truck would look with the lift. Let me know which way you think would look better, I'm open to anyone's opinions on how they think it would look.

 

[Dora The 4x4'a]

it would look better with an 1.5 lift and stock tires.. i always like to look of some space int he wheel wells.. but james in your sig it sais you hav a 92 explorer.. a torsion twist will nto be an option for you if that is correct. your explorer has a TTB front end with coil springs. its not until 95+ when they got rid of coil springs and put the torsion bars in the front end

 

[little x]

It will look good with the lift and stock tires.

 

[Dora The 4x4'a]

but if your interested i got some great tires/wheels for sale and some other parts here!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206734

 

[James909]

Thanks for the opinions. I also agree that it will look better with the lift. Today just to be sure I jacked up the front and rear 1.5" to see how it would look. I took some contrasting pictures one with the lift, it is titled 1.5" lift and you can see the jacks under the car and the other one is the way it is now. You can see the pictures here: http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/dirtrider909/Explorer/
You can't tell that well in the pictures but in person the difference is definitely noticable and I like the way it will look.

but james in your sig it sais you hav a 92 explorer.. a torsion twist will nto be an option for you if that is correct. your explorer has a TTB front end with coil springs. its not until 95+ when they got rid of coil springs and put the torsion bars in the front end

Thanks for noticing that, the sig is correct. I crawled under the truck today because I was going to spray the bolts I thought I had to tighten with WD-40. But I couldn't seem the find the torsion bars, haha. I was confused and thought that the early explorers had the torsion bars but not the later ones. So if I can't do a tt then in order to lift the front i would use spacers, right? Is this hard to do and would I still need an alignment? Thanks, James.

 

[FROADER]

Here you go. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187201

You will need an alignment after spacers. Oh yea, it will look good with stock tires and the small lift.

 

[James909]

Thanks, perfect.

 

[Dora The 4x4'a]

yes you will need "shims".. most shops should be able to do this. they may put in an adjustable shim to crorrect caster/camber angles..
and if your interested i am selling 2in coil spacers that will giv you that lift up front..i also have a "shorty" AAL from procomp for 1.5in lift in the rear for sale
PM me

 

[James909]

Sorry to dig up this thread but I have one more question. I installed the aals and now the rear sits about 1 1/4" inches higher. I like the way it looks and rides and I think having the rear a little higher than the front will allow the truck to handle better when loaded down with a trailer. Are there any problems with leaving the truck like this and not raising the front as well? It seems to ride better than before but I don't want there to be I problem with this that I may not notice until something like an emergency situation. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Four0Sport]

just adding to the array of questions.. i was underneath my 93 today and have been contemplating aal's but realized it would be easier to just do new shackles. i understand that aal's give a stiffer ride, but is there any disadvantage to installing war153 shackles instead of aal's?

 

[James909]

I only have experience with the aals the rest is based on what I've read. But if you think you would prefer the aals it really wasn't that bad of an install, the shackles would be easier but the aals only took me and my dad 4-4.5 hours at a slow and careful pace. And neither of us have experience doing something like this. I like the aals because it is stiffer and helps with trailering. Also I noticed that it reduced body roll and almost eliminated nose dive during braking. However the downside of aals is that the install is harder and the ride is stiffer but in my opinion the ride is in no way worse than it was before. The shackles will be easier to install and won't affect the ride. The only disadvantage I can think of with shackles is the fact that they are visible under the car. Hope this helps, I'm sure if I forgot something someone will post.

 

[Dora The 4x4'a]

james theres no problem with leavin ur truck like this.. just if you think it looks ugly or not.. in fact when i did my 2in coil spacer up front i did the AAl and the warrior shackel in the back. and had a slight "rake" thats when the rear is higher. i liked the more agressive look and ride. as far ask what you said to Four0Sport, your pretty much right, except the stiffer ride is better for handling. those old leafs will float a bit and hav u bouncin up and down..thats one ADvantage.. i woudl go with the AAL's or both if i were y ou.. never go for easy.. always go for best for y our application

 

[Four0Sport]

i was wanting to do both in the rear and springs and 1 1/2 spacers up front but i was told many a time that you cannot do this w/out drop brackets up front. bummer. i alreayd have the AALs so that will go on, as soon as i get it running right, i have bad bad ford luck.

 

[Dora The 4x4'a]

you dont need drop brackets for anything up to 2in up front.. on the ttb